The Red Skelton Collection

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All Rise...

Of course, Judge George Hatch sees Red, but will anything in this collection of old TV shows help him see enough black to move it to the credit column in his ledger?

The Charge

"Red learned the art of entertaining live audiences in vaudeville.
Movies helped him develop sight gags and learn how to play to the camera. Radio
taught him the technologies and demands of live broadcasting. There were few
entertainers better prepared to enter the new medium of television than Red
Skelton."—Narrator, "Hollywood Remembers Red Skelton"

Opening Statement

The Red Skelton Show won two Emmy Awards for its first season in 1951:
Best Comedy Show and Best Comedian. Up against ever-growing competition, the
second season floundered and NBC cancelled the show. CBS picked it up
immediately and it ran every Tuesday night for another 17 years. There was no
real demographic for the show because people of all ages loved Red Skelton. I
saw most of his shows in the early 1960s; his skits and gags were the hot topic
every Wednesday in the high school cafeteria as well as over backyard
fences.

Facts of the Case

Red Skelton opened with a few one-liners and monologue about something
unusual that had happened that day. He shied away from political material
because he knew he was no Bob Hope. A long pantomime about something routine
followed—a man changing a tire, or how different people wave
goodbye—and Skelton blew the simplest things hilariously out of
proportion. The second half opened with a stylishly choreographed production
number that was a lead-in to the evening's main skit involving one of Skelton's
characters. Orson Welles said he always used a nose to help find the nature and
soul the characters he played; Red Skelton used hats. Sheriff Deadeye wore an
oversized ten-gallon hat; punch-drunk Cauliflower McPugg had a plaid cap pulled
down to his eyes. Hobo Freddie the Freeloader, who lived in a shack in the city
dump, dignified himself with a beat-up old top hat; and country rube Clem
Kadiddlehopper had a curled up fedora two sizes too small balanced on the top of
his head.

Frequently, guest stars made appearances. George Raft showed up as (what
else?) a gangster named Mr. Lasagna, Edward Everett Horton and Jackie Coogan
were city dump neighbors, and Reginald Denney played Skelton's butler. Vincent
Price appeared in two episodes; one featured him as a crooked art dealer, and in
the other he played a ham actor (!) who gets into the ring with Cauliflower
McPugg. I admit fast-forwarding through the last ten minutes of this episode,
but the sight of Price in boxing shorts is an image that will haunt me
forever.

The Evidence

Passport Video has released The Red Skelton Collection, a boxed set of
five discs including 10 episodes of the show and two shorts. The following
half-hour episodes from assorted years are very thinly spread across the first
four discs:

• "Halloween Show" Virginia Grey stars as a wife
tired of her husband's drinking and plans a bizarre revenge.

Disc Four:

• "Thanksgiving Episode" Red plays pilgrim John
Alden in this wacky recreation of the first Thanksgiving.

• "Cop and the Anthem" Freddie wants to find a
warm place to sleep on Christmas, but he can't even get himself arrested.

• "Freddie and the Yuletide Doll" Cara William
plays a Raggedy Ann doll that comes to life and dances a ballet with
Freddie.

Disc Five:

• "The Look Awards"Look Magazine honored
Skelton by asking him to present "The Look Awards" for 1954 on his
show. In one short opening skit, Skelton says he should have starred in On the Waterfront, and he
unintentionally does the worst Brando impression I have ever seen. Judy Garland
won Best Actress for A Star Is Born, Bing
Crosby was named Best Actor for A Country Girl, and Alfred Hitchcock took
the prize for two films: Rear
Window and Dial M for
Murder.

• "Hollywood Remembers Red Skelton" is a 25-minute
documentary made in 1998 following the comedian's career, with trailers for his
films from the 1940s taking up much of the time.

A while ago, Koch Vision started releasing a series of DVDs of The Abbott
and Costello Show (early 1950s) and used "transfers from the original
35mm masters." The episodes looked so spectacular you'd think they were
shot last week. Don't expect the same in Passport's handling of The Red
Skelton Collection. The quality of the transfers ranges from decent to bad,
with poor definition and harsh contrast. In a few episodes, ghostly images try
to catch up with fast moving faces and hands; speckling and vertical lines are
not uncommon. Dolby Digital probably couldn't do much with the source material
because voices are still muffled, and The David Rose Orchestra sounds a little
tinny. I tried to find what years these episodes were made, but the few that did
have closing credits were incomplete. So I did some detective work and started
watching for topical references. The easiest was the first episode, "Lord
Beaverhead." Skelton is holding the two Emmys he won for his first season,
so this one aired in 1952. In "Freddie's Masterpiece," Vincent Price
reads a headline about Jack Parr's famous walk-off in the middle of his show.
That places the episode in February of 1960. McPugg gets punched through the
roof and comes back with a tiny satellite (don't ask!) and mentions Sputnik,
which the Russians launched in 1957, so "Vinnie the P." must have been
made within a year or two. Researching further, TV Tome says: "September
27, 1955—Color/1st Show of season 5." I don't know if it refers to
that single show, or if the whole series went color. In the 1960s, I watched
them on a black-and-white Motorola, so I don't know. All the episodes presented
here are in black-and-white; the only color to be seen is in "Hollywood
Remembers Red Skelton."

The Rebuttal Witnesses

It's a shame that someone doesn't remaster the two Christmas episodes,
"Cop and the Anthem" and "Freddie and the Yuletide Doll."
They're both poignant without being overly sentimental. "Yuletide
Doll" is a totally silent pantomime with music and may not click with
today's audiences. But "Cop and the Anthem" is a wonderful adaptation
of O. Henry's classic short story, and Freddie the Freeloader deserves a spot
somewhere between Charlie Brown, Rudolph, and Frosty.

Closing Statement

Red Skelton was the second greatest pantomime artist—right behind
Marcel Marceau—and there was both humor and pathos in his performances. He
excelled at slapstick, and had the best timing when delivering the punch line of
a joke. He created a half-dozen memorable characters that often winked and made
funny, out-of-context asides to the audience, and no one topped him at
ad-libbing. All that talent comes across in these episodes, but The Red
Skelton Collection may have only nostalgia value for those who grew up with
the show—and have a great deal of patience to sit through these miserable
transfers. The jokes aren't just stale; they're mummified and (sorry)
"corny-fied." And does anyone these days really enjoy or appreciate
pantomime? Red Skelton's films, such as DuBarry was a Lady (1943), The
Fuller Brush Man (1948), and I Dood It (1943) still appeal to
everyone, so some Skelton fans may want to give this collection a shot. I'd
suggest a rental, but I think most places allow you one disc at a time from
packages. These discs have only two or three episodes each. Or, if you pay for
unlimited online rentals, you can watch a three-episode disc in less than 90
minutes and ship it right back.

Lastly, Red Skelton always turned serious at the end of the show. "CBS,
our sponsors, and I want to thank everyone here in the audience, and those of
you who allowed us into your living rooms." Then he closed with his
signature line that is not included in any of these episodes, so I'll
make a small addition to it here: "Good night and may God bless…Red
Skelton."

The Verdict

Passport is guilty and I've deducted 40 points for their presentation of a
classic comedian who always gave 100%.